VC10X - Investing in vertical AI startups - Kevin Jiang, Co-founder, Mangusta Capital
Jan 14, 2025
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Kevin Jiang, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Mangusta Capital, shares his journey from the Softbank Vision Fund to launching a VC firm focused on vertical AI startups. He discusses the transformational impact of AI across various industries and its potential to reshape productivity. Kevin also explores the nuanced relationship between AI and knowledge workers, emphasizing that creativity remains a vital human asset. He outlines the key traits that successful founders possess and underscores the importance of strategic networking in attracting substantial investments.
Investing in vertical AI startups focuses on industry-specific solutions that offer agile, capital-light growth potential beyond commoditized hardware.
Building strong connections in the investment ecosystem, such as partnering with influential families, creates significant funding opportunities and insights.
AI will enhance knowledge workers' productivity by streamlining tasks, requiring adaptation to new tools rather than complete job replacement.
Deep dives
Importance of Valuation in Investing
Valuation plays a crucial role in investment decisions, as it helps investors assess the potential of startups. The focus should be on finding opportunities where the market has undervalued a company or its founder, revealing hidden potential. By being valuation-conscious, investors can avoid overpaying for their investments and ensure a better chance of achieving returns. This perspective extends to evaluating the success of management teams and their ability to execute their vision, emphasizing the importance of robust foundational analysis.
Transition to Vertical AI Startups
Investing in vertical AI startups represents a shift towards applications that provide industry-specific solutions. The belief is that while hardware companies become commoditized over time, software applications can remain agile and capital-light, allowing for more rapid growth. Kevin Jang highlights experiences at SoftBank that demonstrated the potential of industry-specific AI solutions, with notable investments yielding significantly high returns. This focus aims to capitalize on an emerging thesis that prioritizes the product-market fit for these targeted applications.
Building Relationships and Partnerships
Establishing connections is vital in the investment ecosystem, as demonstrated by Kevin's partnership with the DelVecchio family, which provided a significant anchor investment. The strategy centers around networking within the venture capital space and leveraging relationships to synergize efforts in building a successful fund. Collaboration with experienced players from the European market enhances access to valuable insights and opportunities. This approach helps differentiate Mangusta Capital by enhancing its strategic value and reach within the industry.
The Role of AI in the Workforce
AI is expected to gradually transform knowledge worker roles rather than entirely replace them. Tools like legal AI co-pilots exemplify how AI can enhance productivity by streamlining repetitive tasks, allowing human workers to focus on higher-value activities. Kevin emphasizes the importance of adapting to AI tools, particularly for younger generations entering the workforce. The projected gradual integration of AI means that humans will need to continuously adapt to leverage AI technologies effectively.
Defining Key Qualities in Founders
Assessing founders involves looking for tenacity, hunger, and a drive to succeed, all critical traits that significantly impact their potential for success. While repeat founders have an advantage, the evaluation process also values the willingness to build diverse teams of skilled individuals. Kevin believes in the importance of evaluating a founder's character over time to understand their potential better. This long-term relationship perspective provides a stronger basis for investment decisions, as it aligns the investors more closely with the founders' journeys.
Kevin Jiang is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Mangusta Capital, a venture capital firm investing in Consumer and Vertical AI businesses shaping the future.
Prior to starting Mangusta Capital, Kevin was part of the founding investment team at Softbank Vision Fund, leading the coverage of Software and Logistics growth equity investments in North America.
In this episode we talk about -
- Kevin's story and why he started Mangusta Capital
- Why he chose to focus on vertical AI startups
- How he got connected with the Del Vecchio family which then made the $50M anchor LP commitment in Mangusta Capital fund 1